Category Archives: Conferences

Have you ever had such a good conference you just couldn’t contain it in one blog post? Today is the continuation and final part of the wonderful Historical Novel Society Conference in Denver, CO. Already my life has filled in with writing, blogging, marketing books one and two and enjoying the small part of my […]

This past weekend was the Historical Novel Society Conference in Denver, Colorado and I was there. My fellow writers and I arrived Thursday evening in the mile-high city and that was the last I saw of the outdoors until Sunday night when we left the hotel for a dinner out. The interim was filled with […]

Have you ever wanted just to sit down with a senior editor and ask what it is they want? Do your eyes glaze over when yet another query letter is answered with “thanks, but no thanks’? You’ve worked and worked at your submission, followed all the suggestions given to you and, while you wait for query replies, your non-nails are red and raw with worry.

When Elaine asked me to write about my journey to being an author, I had to stop and think: when did this journey begin. Was it when I first discovered as a tiny girl that these marvelous books had people who wrote them? That was when I first remember saying, “I want to be an author.”

I spent a productive day on the weekend at a session put on by the Writers’ Community of Durham Region. Sam Hiyate of The Rights Factory in Toronto spoke to about 21 attentive writers and I’m not sure who had more fun, him or us. Sam’s enthusiasm as he talked about several of the books he represents kept the writers enthralled, each of us hoping to be the next published author whose story he might tell.

Learning the craft of writing. I’ve been taking writing workshops and courses to learn craft and then going back to my manuscript numerous times to apply my knowledge. I’ve killed my darlings so often I could be indicted. And I’ve been finding the hook, excising adverbs, birthing compelling characters, and cutting all that doesn’t directly serve my plot.